Ticketek fined $500,000 for repeated breaches of spam laws

Sean Cao

20th Oct 2023

Online ticketing company Ticketek has paid a fine worth $515,040 for sending 98,000 spam texts and emails last year, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Ticketek breached anti-spam laws by sending 41,000 marketing texts and emails without the consent of recipients and another 57,000 to people who had previously unsubscribed.

The firm committed a similar violation in 2019 for which it received a formal warning from the ACMA.

“Australians are fed up with these types of intrusions on their privacy and Ticketek has no excuses given it was on notice after our previous action,” said ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin.

“Even if the purpose of a message is to provide factual information to customers, if it also includes marketing content or links to marketing content, it can only be sent with consent.”

As part of a three-year court-enforceable undertaking, Ticketing is required to appoint an independent consultant to review its compliance with spam rules, as well as report the ACMA.

In August, food delivery platform DoorDash was fined $2 million for sending over one million spam texts and emails between February and October 2022.